MARANA, Ariz. (KGUN) — TheTown of Maranaand Northwest Fire District have partnered up to provide the community with a new CPR resource at parks throughout the town.
At all of the town’s major parks, QR codes are posted that link to a short video on how to perform compression-only CPR.
“We wanted to partner with them, put together a video that was really digestible, really simple, something that users could access really quickly,” Town of Marana Parks and Recreation, Recreation Superintendent Brandon Laue said.
Northwest Fire Captain, CJ Higgins says anyone can watch to be prepared, but it can also be used to help in an emergency situation.
“Unfortunately sometimes, emergencies happen at parks and we wanted people to be able to look at how to do CPR, while they’re calling 9-1-1 and doing all the rest of the things that need to be done,” Captain Higgins said.
He says those first several minutes are key. He said, “The impact can’t be understated for how important it is to get people doing chest compressions.”
According to the American Heart Association, more than 400,000 Americans die from a cardiac arrest in a year. Captain Higgins says over the last several years, this region has really focused on effective management of cardiac arrests.
“Our survival rates from about 2017 to now have gone up from what was around 3% to somewhere about 60-70%,” Captain Higgins said. “Just by focusing on community involvement, good chest compressions.”
Aside from being posted at parks, the video has been shared with park user groups and across social media. NWFD has also focused on drowning prevention and outreach at schools.
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Madison Thomas joined KGUN 9 in July of 2023 as a multimedia journalist. She graduated from Arizona State University in May of 2023 with a degree in journalism and mass communication. She has lived in Arizona her entire life and grew up in Douglas. Madison is thrilled to share the stories from the community she grew up in. Share your story ideas and important issues with Madison by emailing madison.thomas@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
